The present disclosure relates to devices for tethering watercraft, such as boats, to docks. Currently, the most common way for a boat to be secured to a dock is to wrap a rope running from a boat around a cleat on a dock. A cleat is a device with a base fastened to the decking surface of the dock and two prongs extending laterally from opposing sides of the base. A rope may be looped in a figure eight pattern or lashed in some other manner around the two opposing prongs to secure the boat to the cleat and thereby to the dock.
There are several shortcomings in the use of cleats. Primarily the cleats together with a mass of rope used to tether the boat are a tripping hazard to those walking on the dock. The oftentimes casual manner in which ropes are wrapped around cleats on docks is ironic in view of the care generally taken by boat owners when securing gear on their boats in order to eliminate tripping hazards. Also, as docks weather, the security of the cleat's moorings becomes an insidious issue because a cleat may look secure, but the wood holding it may have rotted. Thus there remains a need for a better way to tether a boat to a dock.